Kodachi's Song
by The Talk Of The Town
Summary: What does Kodachi listen to when she works out?


Kodachi's Song  
  
  
She walked into the dojo, calm as she always was before her after school workout. This time, she carried a large stereo, with a CD in her other hand. She waltzed over to where the wall outlet was, plugged in the stereo, and popped the CD in. After setting it to play, she slowly walked to the center of the room, idly picking up a purple ribbon by the bench where she placed the stereo.  
  
[music starts]  
  
Ohhhh.....ahhhh  
  
[drums and bass start, followed by a distorted guitar riff]  
  
At this cue, Kodachi Kuno, the Black Rose, started her kata, flowing in time to the music. She went into a one handed cartwheel while twirling her ribbon in the other hand, and focused on the reason why she was doing this kata, to win his heart. Unbeknownst to her, she began to sing along in perfect English with the song.  
  
I would die for you  
I would die for you  
I've been dying just to feel you by my side  
To know that you're mine  
  
In her mind, as she went from the one-handed cartwheel into a full series of aerial front flips, she pictured Ranma Saotome. His beauitful blue eyes, windows into a soul that held much honor and a capacity for love that not even he realized. His unruly black hair, as ebon as hers, tied back in the braided pigtail that was his trademark. His musculature, taut and firm muscles underneath flesh so toned and perfect, it's as if Pygmalion himself sculpted him, only to have him come to life.  
  
I will cry for you  
I will cry for you  
I will wash away your pain with all my tears  
And drown your fear  
  
Oh, and how he had made her cry, in both joy and misery. The action of recalling these memories was bittersweet, and brought moisture to her eyes, even now. The time when he first met her, and saved her merely because she was falling and he didn't want to see her get hurt. Oh, his caring! And then when she had baked him cookies, she had him for a fleet moment in her grasp, the same firm muscles she drooled over earlier under her very touch.  
  
I will pray for you  
I will pray for you  
I will sell my soul for something pure and true  
Someone like you  
  
But that self same recollection also brought back the memories...memories of Ranma spurning her, denying anything had happened between them. Oh, she had hid her pain well then, but she couldn't deny that it had hurt. And...memories of Akane Tendo. She who was the greatest obstacle of all to Kodachi's love for Ranma, mostly because she loved him with the same fervor that Kodachi did, even if she was clueless to the true nature of her feelings.  
  
See your face every place that I walk in  
Hear your voice every time I am talking  
You will believe in me  
And I will never be ignored  
  
It simply wasn't fair! Ranma got treated horribly by Akane; she is a horrible cook, constantly hits him, and clearly doesn't treat him as he deserves to be treated. Kodachi loved Ranma and she was more than willing to show him as much, in her every action. Even now, she saw glimpses of his face across the walls of the dojo in sporadic bursts; here when she was right side up before attempting a backflip, there when she did a handstand. How could someone as devoted as she be overlooked?  
  
I will burn for you  
Feel pain for you  
I will twist the knife and bleed my aching heart  
I'll tear it apart  
  
It hurt her deeply when she thought about it. But that hurt was the only thing that pressed her on. Contrary to everyone's perception of her as some sort of mentally unbalanced psycho, she was quite the opposite. Much like her brother, she had learned to put up a mask to hide her true self from the world. Where everyone thought her brother to be highly deluded, everyone thought her to be twisted beyond belief.  
  
I will lie for you  
I can steal for you  
I will crawl on hands and knees until you see  
You're just like me  
  
In reality, she hurt too much to let people get close, so she settled for intimidating them with her Black Rose persona. The only one that didn't seem truly scared by it was Ranma. But where most were scared, he simply didn't care about it, didn't care that she loved him. Then again, she understood that he was chased left and right by girls, and with good reason. She refused to give up, however.  
  
Violate all my love that I'm missing  
Throw away all the pain that I'm living  
You will believe in me  
And I can never be ignored  
  
Just the one time where he had saved her was it. That one show of kindness, unasked for and hugely appreciated, was enough for Kodachi to draw her conclusion on Ranma. Past his faults, here was a man of caring, discipline, and honor, and capable of giving and receiving great love. Oh! For him to be in my arms, Kodachi thought, not for the first time. For him to one day, return the way I feel for him.  
  
  
I would die for you  
  
But just hoping isn't enough. You have to show him, which is something you haven't done as much as you think or hope.  
  
I would kill for you  
  
I have to show I"m worthy of him. That I am capable of giving him the love he deserves.  
  
I will steal for you  
  
For Kodachi would truly do anything for him. Just like Shirley Manson is now crooning, in a throaty whisper which Kodachi echoed.  
  
I'd do time for you  
  
To do anything for the man you love, to show him that you're worthy of it. To lie, steal, kill.  
  
I would wait for you  
  
No, that isn't right. Ranma wouldn't want hurt done in his name. For me to do wrong in his name would not only make things worse, but could destroy any chance I have.  
  
I'd make room for you  
  
It suddenly dawned on her. She knew exactly what she should do, something that she is sure Ranma would appreciate immensely.  
  
I'd sail ships for you  
  
She would do the one thing that none of the fiancees had the sheer bravery to do. She would do the one thing that no one would expect her to do.  
  
To be close to you  
  
After she landed the cartwheel she had been in, she sank to one knee, and allowed the tears to truly come then. The pain of the realization of what she must do....  
  
To be a part of you  
  
She slowly stood, weeping openly, softly. The weeping never stopped her from singing along, her English not carrying a trace of accent, a high, melodic counterpoint to Shirley Manson's fairly deep and luscious voice.  
  
'Cause I believe in you  
  
As she gathered her ribbon, she both delighted that she had finally hit upon what she must do to finally show Ranma that she was the one, and despaired that she must.  
  
I believe in you  
  
For it had been said, there is a difference between knowing the right path, and walking the right path. The doing is MUCH harder than the saying, this much was true.  
  
I would die for you  
  
As the final notes of Shirley Manson's voice and the music faded, Kodachi turned the stereo off, and stood a moment in utter silence before she sang one more lyric, one that Miss Manson hadn't deigned to add to her litany of devotion. "I would leave you alone for you," she sang, clear as a bell, in perfect English, in a melancholic voice that perfectly captured the mood that she felt. One of joy in seeing the right path, and firmly making the decision that she must walk it, to the benefit of everyone.  
  
However, the pain that she felt in walking it darkly overshadowed her joy.  
  
She gathered her stereo, her CD, her ribbon, and set to her room to change into her favorite black blouse and purple skirt set. "Must look my best for Ranma, even if I am to leave him be," she said. The last few words were said with a small sob, choked off. 


End file.
